A new study was conducted by the University College London (UCL) using a prosthetic thumb. And it was found that an extra thumb might be extremely helpful for humans. Using this device, the team of candidates was able to perform tasks like building a tower of bocks with a single hand.

The robotic thumb was positioned next to the little pinky finger, opposite the person’s actual thumb. The people wearing this device were operating it by the pressure sensors attached to their feet, on the base of the toes. Their toes were controlling all sorts of movements.

This robotic device was inventively named the ‘third thumb’. And the UCL claimed that it was apparently a part of an award – winning venture at the Royal College of Art.

The main objective of the entire experiment was to draw people’s attention towards prosthetics and to change the way they thought of it. Many people viewed prosthetics as a device formed for differently – abled people who have had a missing body part. But the ULC wanted to change this misconception. And thus, they invented this to tell people that prosthetics could also be used as an extension for the human body.

The lead author of the research, Professor Makin from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience expressed his thoughts by saying that body augmentation aimed to increase one’s physical abilities. Still, many lacked in understanding the way human brain adapted it. He felt that this creation would be beneficial to answer queries on the adjustability of a human brain.

The ULC involved 20 candidates in their research. This group of people was trained to operate the robotic thumb for around five consecutive days. After their training, they took these prosthetic thumbs to their respective homes. And they were instructed to complete household chores with the third thumb.

After working with the thumb for some time, the candidates got used to it. They were successful in doing various things such as holding multiple wine glasses with just one hand. However, experts engaged in the research admitted that these were smaller targets to accomplish. They want to make the thumb more effectual, so that it can help surgeons perform any surgery without an assistant in the near future.

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